Tensions have escalated from Jerusalem, where Israel claims that three bodies returned from Gaza on Friday night do not belong to Israeli prisoners killed during the war. Hamas countered, stating that Israel rejected an offer to analyze the remains.
According to the British news agency AFP, the Israeli military stated that a forensic examination of the bodies, received via the Red Cross, “clarified” that they were not the remains of their prisoners.
On the other hand, Hamas’s military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, issued a clarification. They explained that they had not been able to fully identify the bodies but handed them over due to Israeli pressure, seeking to avoid any new accusations. “We returned the bodies so there would be no opportunity for the enemy to make a false claim,” the Al-Qassam Brigades said.
This dispute has emerged during the ongoing prisoner exchange, which is part of a US-mediated ceasefire that began on October 10. So far, 20 living prisoners and 17 bodies (including 15 Israelis, one Thai, and one Nepali) have been returned.
Meanwhile, Hamas security sources reported that Israel conducted several new airstrikes in southern Gaza on Saturday morning, along with naval shelling off the coast of Khan Younis. According to Gaza’s civil defense agency, these attacks, which followed the death of an Israeli soldier, were the deadliest since the ceasefire began, resulting in over 100 Palestinian fatalities.
